Before 26/11 accused Mohammad Amir Ajmal Kasab, there was another terror convict who received a hasty burial behind the gates of a prison. He was Maqbool Bhat, founder of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

Executed and buried at Delhi's Tihar Jail a week before his birthday in 1984, there are glaring similarities between 25-year-old Kasab and Bhat, who was 45 when sent to the gallows.

Both the men were arrested for heinous anti-terror crimes, and they were executed in utter secrecy within days of their mercy pleas being rejected by the President.

The remains of both the men were ordered to be buried within the confines of prisons after their families failed to turn up for their bodies.

Meanwhile, officials said the state has no other way of pursuing judicial verdicts in such cases.

"Such steps are taken to avoid repercussions that may affect the law and order situation," said Brijesh Kumar Gupta, former DG (Prisons).